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During testimony before the House Armed Services Committee's Strategic Forces Subcommittee in late February, USAF Gen Kevin P. Chilton, head of US Strategic Command (STRATCOM), described Cyberspace as an "emerging warfighting domain." He noted that "potential adversaries recognize the US reliance on [its] use and constantly probe our networks seeking competitive advantage." Chilton said the US is developing capabilities "to operate, defend, exploit and attack in Cyberspace." Three key organizations he cited that are involved are the Joint Information Operations Warfare Command in San Antonio, TX; the Joint Task Force for Global Network Operations in Arlington, VA; and the Joint Functional Component Command for Network Warfare at the National Security Agency at Ft. Meade, MD. Michael G. Vickers, assistant secretary of defense for special operations, lowintensity conflict and interdependent capabilities, also told the panel, "Threats to our computer networks are real and growing," and attempted intrusions occur "on a daily basis." - G. Goodman

Yes, it's definitely that prominent. I'd say that "from over seas several times per hour" may, in fact, be optimistic. I've seen it hit several thousand times per day at some clients' LANs, and that's just the Port Scanning. Add in the login attempts to things like servers and routers, and you begin to realize the you really have to be vigilant about this problem.

Yes, Snort will do the trick. If you use a firewall like Smoothwall, it may already be installed, and may only require downloading and turning on the Snort rules.